LEWIS AND CLARKE - “AURORA 15:34” - [SELF-RELEASED]

I'm the kind of person inclined to say "this is my art, have at it”. Explaining is tedious, didactic even, and I want the music to speak for itself. But in this case, context is everything. Aurora 15:34 is both a eulogy to an individual and a rallying cry against the systemic violence and racism that pervades our society.

I wrote the music as both a reflection of (and respite to) the hyper-madness of our current cultural unrest. I am not a scholar of ethnic studies, nor an academic invested in criminal justice science. I am someone who felt something and interpreted it in order to find meaning.

Elijah McClain was a 23-year-old black American who died after a violent police encounter. He was a massage therapist who loved animals and often played violin for cats at Petco. Elijah was listening to music and dancing when he was detained on his way home from picking up an iced tea for his brother in Aurora, Colorado. Bodycam footage reveals manipulation, abuse of power, and undue force. At 15:34, an officer tells another to "leave your camera there".

August 30 marks the third anniversary of McClain’s death. He was removed from life support after suffering life-sustaining injuries at the hands of authorities just days prior. Five parties involved have been indicted and are awaiting arraignment. Aurora is a department rife with corruption, in a nation that has been pretending it wasn’t founded on the blood and oppression of the sugar trade.

Is this justice? Nothing will ever bring a son back to his mother, a friend back to his community. This story is all too common in America. Discussions like these are finally coming to the forefront. The momentum is now, the conversation is here. I’ve chosen to speak through my medium and I can only hope to contribute to change and calibration, both internally and externally.